John the Baptist Beheaded

14 ^(A)At that ^[a]time ^(B)Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, ² and said to his servants, “^(C)This is John the Baptist; ^[b]he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ For when ^(D)Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him ^(E)in prison because of ^(F)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴ For John had been saying to him, “^(G)It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded ^[c]John as ^(H)a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of ^(I)Herodias danced ^[d]before them and pleased ^(J)Herod, ⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of ^[e]his dinner guests. ¹⁰ He sent and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹² His disciples came and took away the body and buried ^[f]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Five Thousand Fed

^13 (K)Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the ^[g]people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ When He went ^[h]ashore, He ^(L)saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and ^(M)healed their sick.

¹⁵ When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already ^[i]late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” ¹⁷ They *said to Him, “We have here only ^(N)five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸ And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹ Ordering the ^[j]people to ^[k]sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He ^(O)blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, ²⁰ and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full ^(P)baskets. ²¹ There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^22 (Q)Immediately He ^[l]made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. ²³ After He had sent the crowds away, ^(R)He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. ²⁴ But the boat was already ^[m]a long distance from the land, ^[n]battered by the waves; for the wind was ^[o](S)contrary. ²⁵ And in ^(T)the ^[p]fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is ^(U)a ghost!” And they cried out ^[q]in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “^(V)Take courage, it is I; ^(W)do not be afraid.”

²⁸ Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” ²⁹ And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “^(X)You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. ³³ And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly ^(Y)God’s Son!”

^34 (Z)When they had crossed over, they came to land at ^(AA)Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place ^[r]recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; ³⁶ and they implored Him that they might just touch ^(AB)the fringe of His cloak; and as many as ^(AC)touched it were cured.

Teaching at Nazareth

6 ^(A)Jesus went out from there and *came into ^[a](B)His hometown; and His disciples *followed Him. ² When the Sabbath came, He began ^(C)to teach in the synagogue; and the ^(D)many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such ^[b]miracles as these performed by His hands? ³ Is not this ^(E)the carpenter, ^(F)the son of Mary, and brother of ^[c]James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not ^(G)His sisters here with us?” And they took ^(H)offense at Him. ⁴ Jesus said to them, “^(I)A prophet is not without honor except in ^[d](J)his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” ⁵ And He could do no ^[e]miracle there except that He ^(K)laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And He wondered at their unbelief.

^(L)And He was going around the villages teaching.

The Twelve Sent Out

^7 (M)And ^(N)He *summoned the twelve and began to send them out ^(O)in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; ^8 (P)and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no ^[f]bag, no money in their belt— ⁹ but ^[g]to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not put on two ^[h]tunics.” ¹⁰ And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you ^[i]leave town. ¹¹ Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, ^(Q)shake the dust ^[j]off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” ^12 (R)They went out and ^[k]preached that men should repent. ¹³ And they were casting out many demons and ^(S)were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

John’s Fate Recalled

^14 (T)And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “^(U)John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” ¹⁵ But others were saying, “He is ^(V)Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is ^(W)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of ^(X)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. ¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “^(Y)It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ^19 (Z)Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so; ²⁰ for ^(AA)Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; ^[l]but he ^[m]used to enjoy listening to him. ²¹ A strategic day came when Herod on his birthday ^(AB)gave a banquet for his lords and ^[n]military commanders and the leading men ^(AC)of Galilee; ²² and when the daughter of ^(AD)Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and ^[o]his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to ^(AE)half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of ^[p]his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. ²⁷ Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison, ²⁸ and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.

The Reign of the Lord’s Anointed.